UniCredit

The Free State of Bavaria enjoyed a strong reception from investors as it returned to the capital markets on Monday for the first time since 2014 to fund a Covid-19 fiscal package by the Bavarian government.

Germany's Covestro and the UK's 3i have both signed new revolving credit facilities with terms that were agreed before the Covid-19 pandemic sent markets plunging, but lenders said that new deals will have far higher margins.

As the coronavirus pandemic threatens every facet of capital markets activity, trading floors and back offices have emptied in recent days, leading to questions about how efficiently business can be done from home and alternative sites, write Paola Aurisicchio, Jasper Cox, Jennifer Kang and Ross Lancaster.

Members of the European Banking Federation have called on supervisory authorities for help through the ‘temporary struggle’ of the Covid-19 pandemic, asking them for looser capital and liquidity requirements and special treatment of lending impacted by the virus.

Market participants are calling on European financial authorities to help banks deal with the impact of Covid-19. Forbearance could come in the shape of state guarantees or in the form of the relaxation of certain elements of bank capital requirements.

Italy’s capital markets bankers are keeping calm amid the coronavirus crisis, getting used to working from home, and trying to support clients as well as they can, while wishing for help from Europe and the European Central Bank. But they are not allowing themselves to hope the worst is over. The health crisis is acute and getting worse.

Banks are going to play an outsized role in softening the economic impact of Covid-19 in the euro area.

Europe's high grade corporate bond issuers are being pushed into tight issuing windows by volatility caused by the Covid-19 coronavirus. But investors are prepared for this and so far deals have found strong backing.

Schneider Electric, the French electrical equipment company, and Carlsberg, the Danish brewer, zipped through the open window for corporate bond issuance on Wednesday, as bankers say coronavirus volatility has made this a market for opportunists.

German auto and industrial supplier Schaeffler has launched an inaugural Schuldschein. The funds will be used in accordance with its green finance framework.

US corporates leapt on the chance to print euros this week, with Honeywell, Berkshire Hathaway and Schlumberger all finding plenty of demand in the currency.

Dürr is looking for its second sustainability-linked Schuldschein, after the listed mechanical and plant engineering firm launched its first issue in the format last May.